on silent haunches, and then moves on
by fasterassembly
Summary: Pre-game. Chie and Yukiko gossip about their dating classmates and the baffling world of romance.


Chie got along with boys, which wasn't entirely unexpected. Chie, after all, was strong and good at talking to people. Yukiko's male friendships withered before they could even start. Ever since Kanji got his hair cut and started growling at people if they looked at him sideways, her number of male friends had dwindled to a total of zero. Most of the boys she talked to walked away, muttering, "At least be a little more straightforward about it." She didn't even know what they meant by that. What was 'it' supposed to be, anyway, and how was she supposed to be _more_ straightforward about it if no one told her what 'it' was?

But she had Chie, and then there was the Inn's staff, so it wasn't like she was alone and friendless, but it'd be—nice to have some male friends. Or, at least, people she could talk to.

"Like Iwata-kun," Yukiko said, as Chie tried to braid Yukiko's hair. "He seems friendly."

"Iwata?" Chie asked. "No, he's dating about three girls right now. They're all about to strangle him."

"All three of them at once, like a group date?"

"No, as in… you know. Cheating."

"Oh." Were people really dating? They weren't even in high school yet. It seemed a little… premature. Just as she thought that, her head tingled sharply at the roots. "Chie—"

"I know what I'm doing! ... I think I just tied your hair into a knot—"

"Chie…"

"It's not that bad, but… Okay, I got it. I think. Maybe?"

Yukiko tugged her hair out of Chie's hands, carefully, and unbraided her hair. Chie was shifting around on the bed, not saying anything and looking rather bored, and she'd be a bad host if Chie became bored. She wanted to kept talking about Iwata, but didn't know where to go with it; and Chie got along so well with boys, after all. She opened her mouth, vocalized something, and reddened. Then, knowing that hesitation would lead her nowhere, steeled her spine and asked, "Are you seeing anyone?"

"Nope. Why?"

"I wanted to know if you've ever been kissed."

Chie's eyes went round. And then she gawked.

"Well, if you go on a date with someone…" Yukiko gestured vaguely, hair still between her fingers. "I mean, if you're dating someone, are you… I mean, when do you become… What's the difference between dating someone and seeing...?"

"Um," Chie said, drinking from her glass of water. "I don't know? I mean, I guess just going out on a date with someone isn't really dating them. Because we go out all the time. –Just not like that."

"Right," Yukiko said quickly. "Of course."

"I guess if you kiss them that makes things official? Maybe?"

"I don't know, either." But how awful it would be, to go with someone on a nice date and then having to shrink away from a climatic moment. "Maybe we should try it."

"_Pphghhhhh_!" Chie slapped her hand over her mouth and coughed violently.

"Well, it's—I was just thinking—" She stared, very hard, at her hair, and tried to ignore how she was failing at unbraiding it. "Um, I meant it in the 'find a boyfriend and kiss him' way, not the 'kiss each other' way."

"R-right," Chie said, wiping her mouth on her arm. "Yeah, I knew that! I was just thinking of people I was thinking about."

"Y-yes. I was, as well." Except she hadn't been, because she didn't know any boys. And for all the time Chie spent hitting boys, she didn't really seem to think much of them, either.

They both looked at a wall, and then looked back at one another. Then Yukiko could count Chie's eyelashes, smell the soap Chie used, and what was she supposed to do with her nose, because she really didn't know, and now they were touching, and her nose was like a monument of awkwardness, an entire marching band dedicated to it and her heart was beating fast, really fast and her mouth was opening a bit and—

She pulled back and said the first thing that came to mind. "You have something on your face. Um, right there." She took a quick swipe at Chie's chin, and then pulled away.

"Thanks," Chie said. "I, um, I." She cleared her throat. "Well, um, if you were really interested—in. You know. Lipstick! Let's talk about lipstick." She snatched a tube of red off of Yukiko's desk. Yukiko frowned. She had always been under the impression that red was a color one wore to 'work.' Emphasis on the quotation marks. "It'll look good on you, trust me. It's totally your color. Here." Chie sat in front of Yukiko, and ran the stick across Yukiko's lips, giggling a bit when she messed up, and wiping away the offending streaks with her thumb.

"How do I look?" Yukiko said, trying to disguise the tremor in her voice with a bravado she never had. She was certain that Chie would say something that would make everything fall apart. She was certain that the next words out of Chie's mouth would break this spell. This wasn't real, anyway, and Chie was her best friend, so of course, why would she be—

Chie brought her hand to Yukiko's face, and Yukiko stopped thinking.

"Yeah," Chie said, running her thumb against the bottom of Yukiko's mouth. Her eyes were bright and smile crooked. "Yeah, you look great."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Written for the badbadbathhouse prompt: _Pre-game, when they're younger, Chie and Yukiko end up talking about boys one night during a sleepover or a soak in the hot springs or whatever... and decide that they need to practice their kissing. But with who? They're aren't any boys around. And then Yukiko surprises Chie with a funny idea..._

_Anon wants to see these two ladies getting the first hints that their might be something beyond friendship in their relationship, but - as this is pre-game - nothing comes of it. Maybe they laugh it off. Maybe they both feel super awkward. Whatever the case, writer!anon, dazzle me. _

Do I… dazzle you?

… I'll stop.


End file.
